Deadpool clutched his chest, staggered backward, and collapsed onto the cold cave floor. His eyes widened behind the half-burned mask as he stared at the man who had just shot him.
Raza had not hesitated. He had not warned him. He had simply raised the gun and fired.
The echo of the gunshot still rang in the narrow cave.
Deadpool looked up, voice trembling in disbelief. "No, I was kindly tricking you, and you shot me?"
Then, in an almost offended tone, he added, "By the way, is this guy's IQ really that high?"
Ethan shouted in panic. "No!!!"
He rushed forward and pressed both hands over Deadpool's wound. Blood poured through his fingers, warm and unstoppable, staining his palms red. The bullet had pierced straight through Deadpool's heart.
Tony Stark stood frozen for half a second before glaring at Raza. "Why did you kill him?"
Raza lowered the smoking pistol as if nothing important had happened. His expression did not change. To him, it was like killing livestock.
"Because he's useless," Raza said calmly.
His cold eyes shifted to Tony and Ethan.
"And you two had better be useful."
He did not finish the sentence. He did not need to.
The threat hung in the air heavier than the smoke from the gun.
Ethan's hands shook as he tried to stop the bleeding. He had told Deadpool to stay quiet earlier for this exact reason. Out of the three captives, Tony was the most valuable. Ethan came next. Deadpool… was expendable.
If Raza wanted to kill one man to scare the others, Deadpool was the obvious choice.
Ethan's vision blurred.
He remembered another time long ago. Terrorists breaking into his family home. Gunshots. His parents falling. The silence afterward.
Even after becoming a doctor… even after decades… he still could not protect anyone.
"I'm so sorry," Ethan whispered. "I'm really sorry…"
A large hand gently covered his.
"No," Deadpool said weakly. "You shouldn't apologize."
He turned his masked face slightly toward Tony. His breathing sounded thin at first.
"I'm sorry," he continued. "I'm going to steal your thunder."
The first half of the sentence sounded like a dying man.
The second half… did not.
His voice regained strength. Energy.
Raza sensed something was wrong. His instincts screamed at him. He raised his gun again—
Too late.
Swish!
A flash of cold steel cut through the air.
A hand separated cleanly from a wrist.
The severed hand fell to the ground, still gripping the pistol. Blood sprayed in a violent arc across the stone floor.
Everyone blinked.
Just a moment ago, Deadpool had been lying on the ground, shot through the heart.
Now he stood upright.
His ragged clothes were gone.
In their place was a tight red and black combat suit.
In his hands gleamed two razor-sharp katanas.
Raza stumbled backward, clutching his severed arm. His face turned pale.
"Shoot! Shoot!" he screamed.
Gunfire exploded inside the cave.
Bullets rained down like a storm.
Tony instinctively grabbed Ethan and pulled him behind a pile of scrap metal for cover.
But what they saw next shattered everything they believed about reality.
Deadpool moved.
No.
He danced.
One man. Two swords.
The blades spun in perfect arcs of silver light.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Bullets struck steel and were deflected away. Sparks flew. Metal fragments scattered.
Not one bullet reached him.
Not one.
It was as if an invisible wall stood before him.
One man guarding the pass, ten thousand cannot break through.
No—this was the upgraded version.
One man guarding the pass, ten thousand guns cannot penetrate.
Tony's mouth slowly fell open.
"How did he do that?" he muttered.
Ethan could only shake his head.
Splitting bullets midair with swords—this was not human.
Tony's mind raced.
He remembered stories from his father, Howard Stark. During World War II, the Strategic Scientific Reserve had been formed. Later, it became known as S.H.I.E.L.D.. There had been a scientist named Abraham Erskine who developed the Super Soldier Serum.
That project had created Captain America.
After Erskine was assassinated by HYDRA, the program failed. No one had successfully recreated it.
But what if they had?
What if Deadpool was the result?
That burned skin… perhaps it was a side effect of a flawed serum.
But then another question appeared.
If he was military, why was he here first?
Was he undercover?
But with this kind of power, why hide?
And where had the suit and swords come from?
They had appeared in an instant.
Space storage technology?
Teleportation?
Impossible.
If the military had technology like that, Stark Industries would not be negotiating contracts every year.
Tony's thoughts flashed by in seconds.
Meanwhile, inside the cave, the situation had turned into something else entirely.
It was no longer a fight.
It was a massacre.
Deadpool moved like a red shadow between the gunmen. Every swing of his blade meant a body fell. Limbs separated cleanly. Guns clattered to the ground.
Raza reached the cave entrance, trying to escape.
Then he felt it.
A gaze.
He turned slowly.
Deadpool stood in the center of the cave, surrounded by bodies.
One sword rested on his shoulder. The other was still dripping blood.
The white eye shapes on his mask narrowed slightly.
Even through the mask, Raza felt mocked.
Regret flooded his heart.
He should not have shot him.
He should have left him alive.
No matter what Deadpool's plan was, at least he would not be in this situation now.
But regret does not reverse time.
Deadpool raised one hand casually.
He curled his fingers.
Boom!!!
The iron door at the cave entrance slammed shut with terrifying force. The sound echoed through the tunnels like thunder.
Raza spun around and tried to pull it open.
It would not move.
From outside, everything looked normal.
From inside… it was hell.
Ethan counted in his mind without realizing it.
Twenty-nine seconds.
That was all it took.
From the moment Deadpool leaped up… to the moment every terrorist lay dead.
Twenty-nine seconds.
Earlier, Deadpool had joked that he only needed half a minute.
He had been accurate.
One second remained.
That one second belonged to Raza.
The once-arrogant leader now lay on the ground, shaking.
His lips were white.
His voice trembled.
"Please… please spare me."
Ethan's hands slowly lowered.
Days ago, he had begged Raza for mercy.
Now Raza begged.
But the difference was clear.
Ethan had begged for someone else.
Raza begged only for himself.
Deadpool calmly tore a cleaner piece of cloth from a fallen man's clothing.
He wiped his blade carefully.
Then he sheathed the sword with a soft click.
He tilted his head at Tony and Ethan.
"See? Blood on a red uniform isn't very noticeable," he said proudly. "Aren't I smart?"
Tony stared at him.
Ethan stared at him.
Neither answered.
Their understanding of reality had been shattered.
Deadpool sighed dramatically. "Hmph. How boring."
He pulled a pistol from his waist.
Then he paused.
He looked down at it.
"Oh right," he muttered. "I don't really need this."
He glanced at Raza.
For a brief moment, the cave was silent.
Then—
Bang.
The final gunshot echoed through the tunnel.
Raza's body went still.
Deadpool lowered the gun slowly.
Silence returned.
Tony stepped forward carefully, scanning the cave.
Bodies everywhere.
No movement.
He looked at Deadpool again.
"You were shot through the heart," Tony said slowly.
Deadpool tapped his chest.
There was a bullet hole in the suit. Blood stained the fabric.
"Yeah," he replied casually. "That hurt. One star review. Would not recommend."
Ethan walked closer. His medical instinct forced him to check.
The wound was already closing.
Muscle reconnected.
Skin regenerated.
Within seconds, there was nothing left but torn fabric.
Tony's eyes narrowed.
"You regenerate," he said.
Deadpool placed both hands on his hips.
"Regenerate, exaggerate, dominate… I rhyme a lot when I'm excited."
Tony ignored the joke.
"So what are you?" he asked seriously.
Deadpool thought for a moment.
Then he pointed at himself proudly.
"I'm your guardian angel," he declared.
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"With swords."
Ethan exhaled slowly, trying to calm his heartbeat.
"You saved us," he said sincerely.
Deadpool waved his hand dismissively. "Of course I did. If you die here, who's going to build the shiny metal suit?"
Tony froze.
Deadpool tilted his head again.
"Oh," he said lightly. "Did I say too much?"
Tony stared at him.
For the first time since being captured, a spark of something dangerous returned to his eyes.
An idea.
A future.
Outside the cave, the desert wind blew as usual.
Inside the cave, the balance of power had completely changed.
In just thirty seconds, one man had held the pass against ten thousand.
And the world would never be the same again.
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